MR. McCLELLAN: All right, good morning, everybody, or good afternoon.
It's morning, I guess, in California -- the radio address the President
taped before we left. It will be on important priorities that Congress
needs to act on when they get back, and important priorities for the
people of California, as well, such as the Competitiveness Initiative,
the Advanced Energy Initiative, and supporting our troops with the
supplemental funding and immigration reform.

Then he had his usual briefing. He met with the Secretary of State this
morning. When we get there -- the Governor will meet us when we get
there, and I expect he'll ride with the President to the event, and then
he's going to be participating on the panel on competitiveness, as well,
as will John Chambers, the head of Cisco Systems, who is on board with
us -- he and his wife are.

Then following that, the President will go to Stanford, and he'll be
meeting with some of the Hoover Institution fellows. Secretary Shultz
will be there, and help moderate a discussion he'll have with some of
the fellows. That's a closed event. And then he has a private dinner
this evening with some Hoover Institution officials. And I think that's
all I've got on his schedule, besides a couple of announcements and
updates.

The President called Prime Minister-elect Prodi on the plane. This was
about 11:05 a.m. -- I mean, 11:50 a.m. Central time [sic]. The
President called --

Q Could you say the time again?

MR. McCLELLAN: Around 11:50 a.m. Eastern time. The President called to
congratulate the Prime Minister-elect. The President said he looks
forward to working with him, and looked forward to seeing him again
soon. And the Prime Minister-elect expressed his appreciation for the
call. Italy is a valued ally and good partner. The President looks
forward to working with Prime Minister-elect Prodi on a number of common
priorities that we have.

One other announcement -- we'll be putting out a statement on this.
Prime Minister Rasmussen will be coming to Camp David on Friday, June
9th. Denmark is a close ally in the war on terror and a valued partner
in advancing freedom around the world. The President looks forward to
welcoming Prime Minister Rasmussen to Camp David. We'll get that
statement out to you all here shortly.

And I think that's all I've got to really begin with. I've got a week
ahead at the end.

Q Is there a private meeting with the President and the Governor in
California?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think they'll be riding to the event together,
so they'll have an opportunity to visit about important priorities.

Q Does the President have an answer to his -- the Governor's request
about levees?

MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, our Chairman on the Council of Environmental
Quality just did a call with California reporters --

Q Today?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, just a short time ago, just completed a call. The
Army Corps of Engineers has been working with California to move ahead
on levee repairs. This is to repair some levees in the Sacramento area.
And Chairman Connaughton of our Council of Environmental Quality
announced that we had reached an agreement with California and are
moving ahead to repair those levees in a quick and practical way. There
are 29 locations all together, and this will be done over the course of
the summer and into the fall. The President directed his team to -- his
Cabinet team and Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality to
make sure that the repairs happen as quickly as possible.

Q Who is going to be at dinner -- it's Shultz and who else?

MR. McCLELLAN: Hoover Institution officials.

Q Shultz will be at the dinner?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q Is it Shultz's house, the private residence?

MR. DECKARD: No. We'll get you the information.

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll get you that information.*

Q What was the purpose of those briefings and -- the meeting with the
Hoover fellows, is there a topic, a purpose to it?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think it's just -- the fellows? He's in the area, and
it's an opportunity to talk to them about issues that are on their
minds, as well as some of the priorities that we're pursuing.

Q Is he considering asking George Shultz to help out in some other
way, maybe come back to Washington, or anything along that --

MR. McCLELLAN: I hadn't heard that one. I think Secretary Shultz is
happy where he is right now. He's a good friend, and the President
looks forward to seeing him.

Q Are there any steps on gas prices -- immediate steps to help fuel
prices the President is planning soon? You talked about the long-term
stuff.

MR. McCLELLAN: The President is concerned about high prices at the
pump. And I think you heard him talk about it earlier this week. He's
concerned about the impact it's having on small businesses, the impact
it's having on families who are trying to make ends meet. I think that
the increase in gas prices in recent weeks is all the more reason why
Congress should move ahead and act on the initiative he outlined in his
State of the Union, and that this should create a sense of urgency for
Congress to move ahead and pass these initiatives that will really help
us change the way we power our cars and power our homes and businesses.
And the President will be talking about that in remarks tomorrow, and
highlighting that -- the initiative that he outlined. He will be urging
Congress to move ahead.

Q What he's talking about tomorrow, fuel cells, and then what he's
talking about with Congress is much more long-term. Is there anything
he can do now?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're always looking at any short-term ways we can
address these issues. Remember, this is not something that we got into
overnight. This has been occurring for years and building for years.
What we have to do is reduce our dependence on foreign sources of
energy, particularly foreign crude. And that's why the President
outlined a really bold initiative that will transform the way we power
our cars and homes and businesses, by investing in new technologies.

And that's one of the things he's going to be talking about on this
trip. It's a high priority for the President. We passed a
comprehensive energy plan last year, but there's more that we need to
do. And there should be a sense of urgency within Congress to move
ahead and get this done, so that we don't continue to run into this
situation year after year after year. If you're going to address rising
energy prices, you have to go to the root causes of why those energy
prices are rising, and it's because we're dependent on foreign oil.

Q Will the President, on this trip, though, Scott --

MR. McCLELLAN: But we're always looking at ways we might help in the
short-term, even though this is something that requires a comprehensive
solution.

Q Speaking of a short-term solution, will he be talking about or
introducing any new ideas about those short-term solutions on this trip?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he's going to be talking more about energy and
high energy prices tomorrow in his remarks.

Q That's at a fuel cell -- fuel car event. I mean, that's a
long-term -- that's many years down the line. Is he going to be
offering any solutions for motorists today?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think, one, that's not the only thing he's going
to be talking about tomorrow. I think he'll be talking about his
broader initiative. And what we have to do is go to the root causes of
high energy prices. Again, this is something that puts a strain on
family budgets, puts a strain on small businesses. And it's not
something that occurred overnight, and it's not something that's going
to be solved overnight. There are some short-term steps we've taken.

One of the things the President emphasized the other day, too, was that
we have a responsibility to make sure that we are acting to stop any
price gouging, and we'll stay on top of that, as well. I think the
Department of Energy put out some additional information on that the
other day. We will always look for ways we can -- might be able to help
in the short-term. We have a strong economy, but rising energy prices,
rising health care costs are concerns that the President wants to see
Congress act on. That's something that the American people are
concerned about, those two issues, and that's why Congress needs to act
on these initiatives.

Q How frustrated is he --

MR. McCLELLAN: But he's trying to focus on a bipartisan way we can
solve these issues, and I think there's a lot of bipartisan support for
the Advanced Energy Initiative. This is something that has good support
among leaders of both parties of Congress, and I think that the recent
increase at the pump is all the more reason why Congress ought to be
moving ahead quickly when they get back.

Q How frustrated is he, though, Scott, that the strong economy is
being overshadowed by frustrations about high gas prices?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you need to look at what people are doing.
Consumer confidence is at very high levels, and that's what's important
to look at when you talk about the economy. You have more than 5.1
million jobs that have been created, an unemployment rate that is down
to 4.7 percent. One of the other areas he's talking about is the
Competitiveness Initiative. We need to act to keep America the most
competitive economy in the world. This is a strong and growing economy,
but there are still priorities that need to be addressed that the
American people are concerned about.

Q Is Harriet Miers expected to leave as general counsel --

MR. McCLELLAN: Are you talking about this story in The New York Times
today? First of all, I think Harriet Miers is a valued and trusted
advisor. Secondly, Josh Bolten told the senior staff that the story is
not accurate. Josh is not considering any such action, and more
importantly, it's not something that is under consideration by the
President.

Q Why did the President wait until now to call Prodi, and secondly,
how significant a breakthrough does the administration see these latest
political developments in Iraq?

MR. McCLELLAN: First on Prime Minister-elect Prodi. I think just in
the last couple of days the election has been certified by the courts in
Italy. And so before that it was under dispute. And the President
wanted to call him as soon as the issue was resolved.

On Iraq, the parliament is supposed to meet again tomorrow. And we
continue to urge the Iraqi leaders to come together and get a unity
government in place as quickly as possible. We hope to see some good
progress in the coming days. I think you have seen that Iraqi leaders
have been continuing to have discussions about how to move forward and
get a government formed and in place. And so we will be watching in the
coming days to see how the parliament moves ahead. My understanding is
that they're supposed to be acting on the top seven leadership posts as
they come back to meet again.

Q The first quarter fundraising numbers are in for the congressional
campaign candidates' committees. And the Democratic Committee's
Senatorial Committee and Congressional Committee are doing very well
versus the Republican committees. Is there any concern on that for you
guys?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know -- you'd have to ask the Republican
National Committee. I don't know that they agree with that assessment
that you made. I think if you look at events the President has been
attending, he's been helping candidates generate strong support and
raise a lot of resources for their campaigns.

Q Can I go back to Harriet Miers for a second? Is the President
satisfied with the job she's doing?

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely, absolutely. She's been doing a great job.
She's an important member of this team.

Q Has he told her she will stay in the same job that she's in, as
opposed to maybe switching to some other role within the administration?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think I just talked about the specific report, and now
you're trying to speculate about all sorts of things.

Q I wanted to make sure I was hearing you right.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think I was pretty clear in what I said.

Q Well, since Mr. Bolten is also on the plane, will they be
discussing other personnel issues or anything?

Q On Italy, given the nature of his relationship -- the President's
relationship with Berlusconi, would it be normal, or is he considering
given Berlusconi a call, too?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, he is, in about 45 minutes. Good question.

Q Thank you.

MR. McCLELLAN: They've worked out a time to talk here shortly.**

Q What do you expect him to say?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll let him say it, then I'll tell you.

Q Can you let us know --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I absolutely will. That's why I told you.

All right, week ahead. I'll skip through -- there's nothing new on here
for Saturday and Sunday, right, and Monday? I'll skip through that,
because you already have that.

On Tuesday, the President will be making remarks on energy --

Q What is the Monday morning -- the immigration speech?

MR. McCLELLAN: Didn't we put that on there? Oh, okay, in Irvine,
California. He will be making remarks on his immigration reform
proposal.

Q Anything more on that?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's still a couple days away. We'll update you as we get closer. Then he's got the congressional reception in Vegas for Jon Porter.

Then we're back in D.C. on Tuesday. He'll make remarks on energy in
Washington. He'll participate in the presentation of the
Commander-in-Chief's Trophy to the United States Naval Academy Football
Team.

And on Wednesday he'll make remarks to the 2006 National and State
Teachers of the Year at the White House.

Thursday we will be traveling to Louisiana and Mississippi. He'll be
participating in a National Volunteer Service Week project in Louisiana,
and then doing one in Mississippi.

And on Friday, he'll, as you all know, he'll be meeting with the
President of Azerbaijan at the White House.

And then Saturday he'll be making remarks at the White House
Correspondent's Dinner.

All right, thank you all. I'll update you on Berlusconi.

END 2:11 P.M. EDT

* It will be at Secretary Shultz's home.

** The President had a good conversation with Prime Minister
Berlusconi. The President thanked him for his strong leadership and
friendship. The two leaders agreed to stay in touch.